Endless Hurt: Change of Destiny
by Arichos
Summary: the Sequel to Endless Hurt. what happened to Arick after he opened the door? What will happen to Kinno and the others? Wil the heartless truly be defeated? Why am i asking all these questions? Read and Find OUT! rated T for Battle sequences, blood etc.
1. Change of Fate

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

This is a sequel to Endless Hurt, going back to what happened when instead of Riku opening the door, it was Arick. Enjoy

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"I thought you might want something…" she told him, handing him a few pieces of fruit with a cup of water. Arick took the glass first and drained it in less than two gulps before reaching for the orange, pushing the quilt off of him a little.

"Thanks," he said, tearing off the skin and taking a large chunk into his mouth, squirting juice all over his cheeks. "Where am I anyway?"

"A small chain of land we like to call Destiny islands," She answered casually, taking a seat next to his bed. "Where do you come from?" she returned.

"I don't know," Arick said, shrugging and taking another bite out of the orange. "I woke up and I was falling…"

Kinno suddenly woke from her strange dream to hear startled cries, screams and the roar of a monstrous beast. Grabbing her sword that was tucked beneath her star plush pillow for just these kinds of situations, she rushed from her tent, gasping when the blast of pure heat hit her skin, a shock in contrast from the slight warmth of the tent.

The forest they had taken refuge in was now a battlefield alight in flames, shimmering off of the shadowy flesh of the scores of heartless that was attacking their camp. A behemoth crashed to the ground ahead of her, Seifer and his friends leaping atop in and attacked its pearl white horn. In the midst of the fighting, she could spot her brother Riku alongside Sora at the front lines, their key blades flashing and sparking as they struck against armor, swords and claws.

A loud thump landed behind her, and she span around just in time to deflect the big body's stomach from bashing her, and with a quick stab to its glob of fat, the heartless dispersed into dust. Her sword glowed a light of pure silver as the adrenaline started pumping through her veins, she dashed away to join her brother, but a cry from Aurora caught her attention, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sora's older sister fighting desperately to defend the younger children that were too frightened to engage in the battle. Having ran out of arrows for her crossbows, she now used her body as a human wrecking ball and crashed herself into the advancing soldiers, gaining more cuts every time she drew back to charge again.

The heartless that were attacking her suddenly flew into the sky as if an invisible bomb had exploded, in their middle of their number, and kinno leaped into the air with them, slicing them to pieces in a flash of her sword, their remains showering aurora and the children with dead heartless dust. Landing perfectly, she glared at the oncoming soldiers, who came in the wake of their fallen brethren, her sword angled and ready to attack again.

While Kinno defended Aurora and the youngest of them, back at the front lines, Riku and Sora mirrored each other's moves flawlessly, becoming a spinning death ball of keyblades, occasionally summoning a second to dual wield, tearing through the small army of heartless with little difficulty. But that all changed when another deafening roar hurt Sora's ears before sharp teeth sunk into his shoulder and tossed him away from his comrade.

He rolled roughly across the ground, stopping after twenty feet or so and got to his feet, reaching out into the air and summoning his keyblade back to his hand. His blue eyes widened as he glanced upon a somewhat familiar colossal demonic three headed dog. But instead of pure black fur, its skin was scaley and jagged, colored sliver with underlying red and a stripe down its back, its eyes glowing an eerie solid white.

"I thought I killed this thing back at the coliseum!" Sora called to Riku as he ran back to help his friend, who was rolling and dodging the demons three snapping jaws.

"Its not the same!" Riku yelled back as he flipped onto of the creatures back, plunging his dark keybade several times into his crusty tough skin before he was slammed by its enormous tail. Riku quickly regained his balance in midair, and landed his feet flat against the trunk of a nearby and leapt away to go and find Kinno, knowing they couldn't win this battle without her help. "retreat Sora!" he called to his friend as he ran to where Kinno fought off the seemingly endless onslaught of scouts and soldiers from taking the young ones hearts.

"He's here," Riku told her as soon as he was at her side, taking out several soldiers with a single ice spell. "And it seems he's brought a new friend."

Kinno nodded, biting her lip in anxiousness. She ran from this battle, and saw Sora running from amidst the trees, having ignored Riku's command to retreat, and somehow had managed to piss off the Cerberus within that few seconds, and the giant dog came crashing after him, snarling with rage, one of its eyes bleeding from its left head.

Her protective nature flaring immediately, Kinno narrowed her eyes at the monster, and from the silver pendant that hung from her neck, an orange light spiraled into the sky, exploding into an inferno of flames that soon molded itself into the scarlet feathers of the eternal phoenix.

The magnificent bird spread its wings, screaming its cry and all of the minor heartless suddenly burned up in flames, and all the wounded children were healed as the phoenix's magical voice carried across the battlefield, a few large heartless who were able to resist the phoenix's magic still remaining were suddenly engulfed in a flurry of swords, daggers and clubs, a renewed moral taking hold of the warriors at the sight of the summon.

The Cerberus seemed completely unaffected by the phoenix presence, who growled and glared at the bird as it hovered in the sky. Taking a deep breath, the dog gathered non-elemental magic into his center jaw and shot three consecutive blasts at the phoenix like a magical cannon, each exploding in mid-air one after the other, trying to hit the giant bird as it dived toward the ground, cawing before it caught Cerberus in its talons, flapping hard to carry the strugglling dog into the sky and tossed it with a heave of its legs, watching it land in the trees far from Kinno and the others. The bird flew back to the ground, allowing Kinno to leap onto his back before he took off after the Cerberus with his summoner mounted between his shoulders.

"Get what you can from camp and get everyone to safety," Riku commanded Sora, taking off to follow Kinno. "We'll meet back up when we finish this thing off!"

Sora tried to protest, but Riku disappeared too quickly to allow him to utter a word, and with a frown, he turned around and started shouting orders, running towards his sister and helping those who needed it to their feet, telling them to to take down tents, gather the food, etc.

Back in the sky, the phoineix trilled as its emerald eyes scanned the tree tops to find where Cerberus landed, Kinno standing perfectly balanced, the warmth of his feathers on her feet giving her a small comfort.

"He's close..." she whispered to herself, feeling his presence growing slowly as they flew over the vast forest canopy.

Their was a loud roar, and Kinno was suddenly thrown from Phoenix's back as the giant dog suddenly leaped from the cover of leaves, colliding with the bird, biting clawing to try and bring him down and out of the sky by attacking its wings.

The ambush gave Kinno no time to react to slow her fall, and could only hope that luck would let her survive as she tumbled through leaves and branches until she hit the forest floor.

Cut, scratched and possibly fractured a bone with the way her hip felt, she was relived she could still move. Using her sword for support, she pulled herself to her feet, but almost fell straight back to the ground, huddering and almost choking form the darkness that eminated from the figure that leaned against a thick tree trunk, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Arick," Kinno greeted with a growl, shaking where she stood. The boy she once knew as her childhood crush had changed dramtically since the darkness overtook him. His once blue eyes that were full of life and happiness had dulled to a grey, cold emotionless color. His violet red hair was almost black, but had grown considerably since last she saw him, now down to the base of his neck. He wore all black, his jeans running two white stripes down the sides with zippers on either that ran from his knee down. the blue collar they had made as a present had been replaced by a robelike hooded sweater with a a red heartless symbol embroided on the chest. on his wrists, the special blade gloves Cid had made for him sparkled in the moon light, stained red with the blood of hundreds who had tried to stand up to him before and had failed.

"Hello Kinno," he said calmly, looking int o the starry sky at their summons who battled eachother ruthlessly.

"What do you want?" Kinno growled, knowing he desired something from her, otherwise he would've attakced her by now. She pulled her sword from where she had staked it in the ground and raised it pointedly at him, ready for anything he might try.

"I want you to join me," he answered, pacing around her in a circle, not even giving her a glance, keeping his eyes straight ahead. "I can't kill you without killing myself, you've known this since we were kids."

"Your not sure about that, but i'd love to test it on you," kinno replied, her sword point following his body.

Arick chuckled and shook his head. "you and i both know its more or less a fact. And i'm tired of this dillema. So I'm offering you this," he said, stopping and finally turning his gaze to her, sending a shiver down her spine. "either bow to me, or you can spend the rest of your miserable life as my prisoner. Your choice"

"I'll never join you!" Kinno answered harshly, returning his darkned gaze with a look of pure determination, ready to defend her freedom.

Arick sighed, shaking his head and pulled up the sleeves of his sweater so they wouldn't hinder his blades. "Sad," he said with a huff, going through his mind on how he could paralyze her without effecting himself directly.

But before their battle could begin, Cerberus suddenly crashed betweeen them with a howl, bursting into magical energy and retreating back into Arick, who screamed with agony. The phoenix cawed from above, diving towards the now weakened Arick, but with a grimace of pain and outrage, he teleported off the planet.

Kinno sighed a huge breath of relief as the phoenix shrunk his size and landed before her. That was the one drawback of being a summoner. If your aeon was defeated in battle, it severely drained the life of its owner in order to maintain its own existence.

Kinno sheathed her sword, and reached out to gently pet the crown of Phoneix's head. "Thanks," she said with much gratitude, "you just saved my life..."

The bird trilled in reply and tilted its head towards her, and instantly all her wounds became scars, and with that he swirled into an orange light again and retreated within its jewel that was infused on her necklace.

Kinno gazed down at the silver pendant, admirming the penatagonal design with the twelve different color stones set in a pattern at different points of the inner star. It had been given to her as a gift, but by whom she had no memory of. She liked to think it was her mother, who gave it to her daughter knowing that one day she would need its protection.

Taking it into her palm, she gazed at it dimly, brushing her forefinger over each finely polished stone, sensing the different summons within. Her mind wandered back to every incident in which she probably would have never survived without the summons help, and she sent a mental word of thanks to each one as her finger passed over their respective stone.

"Kinno!" Riku cried as he burst from the bushes and stumbled to her side, looking around at the fallen trees and flattened ground where cerberus had crash landed. "Where is he?" he asked fiercly, anxious for a fight with Arick.

"He's gone," Kinno told him, letting her necklace drop back to its place. "Phoenix defeated Cerberus and weakened him."

"Coward," Riku spat, looking like a child who had just been denied a cookie. His keyblade disappeared and he wrapped his arms aroud her, teleporting them away to rejoin Sora and the others.

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Sora was sittng by the fire, laying his hands flat on the ground to support himself as he leaned back slightly. most of the others had gone to bed execept for a few of the older boys, including Seifer and friends, who were sitting cross legged on the other side of the fire.

Sora turned his head slightly over his shoulder to glance at his sister Aurora, who was sound asleep inside her sleeping bag with all the young ones piled around her, two of them actually resting their heads ON her. He smiled a little, thinking the whole picture was quite adorable.

That moment of peace was suddenly shattered when Riku and Kinno appeared next to them, one of their feet accidentally landing on his hand, causing him to yowl in pain and draw his hand back to clutch the injured fingers.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Kinno apologized, jumping away the moment she felt Sora's fingers wriggling in pain beneath her heal. Seifer and the others suddenly busted up laughing, which was almost instantly silenced by a glare from Riku.

"Its fine..." Sora grumbled at Kinno, holding his hand in the other. Both of them took a seat to his right, warming their hands on the flames.

"did ya find him?" Sora asked Riku, not seeing any signs that he had battled with Arick.

"No," Riku growled with disappointment. "Kinno took care of him before i got their."

"Phoenix took care of him," Kinno corrected him. "All i did was tell him i didn't want to join him."

Sora blinked, tilting his head a little. "Why would he want you to join him?"

Kinno pointed at her heart with her thumb, tilting her head towards the other kids to signal that she didn't want to explain verbally, but the gesture to her heart pretty much answered the question thoroughly.

"Oh..." Sora said in realization.

"I wish he'd die..." A twelve year old suddenly piped up out of nowhere, tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm so tired of running from him..."

As Sora was about to utter some words of consolation, Seifer cut him off with a few words of his own.

"He's one evil bastard alright," he agreed with the boy, spitting to the side.

"And a sadistic asshole to boot," his freind Rajin added, spitting as well to copy seifer.

"He wasn't always evil you know..." Kinno mumbled, glancing at the three boys.

"Psh, yeah right," Seifer replied. "His heart was probably a lump of coal when he was born."

"Yeah!" Rajin agreed with sniggers of laughter. "he probably started killin when he was four too..."

"Your wrong," Kinno suddenly growled, her eyes flashing with anger at the insults thrown at Arick. "He was a good and loyal freind before he was taken," she protested. "You don't know anything about the real Arick."

As she spoke these words, her mind drifted into the good memories that she carried of Arick. Back to the sandy beaches of Destiny Islands. Back to when she rembered Arick to be kind, gentle, and none of them had even heard of the heartless.


	2. Their Friend Arick

The sandy beaches of Destiny Islands was a childs paradise. Everyday, the sun would pierce across a cloudless sky, and would only recede when a rare rainstorm struck the islands. But today was different.

For the first time that they could remember, it was a cloudy day, and none of them threatened rain, but none the less, a cold breeze chilled the air, forcing the younger kinno to wear a jacket and tighter jogging pants.

At eight years old, Kinno was still the timid and quiet young girl, but the sugar rush from the soda she had this morning gave her a hyper streak, which added to the immense fun of their routine game of hide and go seek.

Kinno peeked out from the branches of the tall palm tree she had climbed, glancing at the pier that had been declared base had already been reached by her twin, Riku, who was danlging his legs over the edge of the dock, staring at the small fish that were swimming in circles around the wooden beams.

Her eyes scanned the beach for any signs of Arick. Finding none, she hoped he was on the other side of the island, looking for Sora. She slid carefully down the trunk, diving behind some thick bushes just in case Arick came up unexpectedly. One more glance from left to right, making sure her path was still clear, she made a mad dash for the pier.

And just as she believed she would make it, half way their she heard Arick cry out, "Gotchya!" Before he leaped from his own little hiding place, ambushing her with a pounce into the sand before he began tickling her mercilessly, as was the punishment for getting caught aside from the next nomination of being 'it'.

After several minutes of squirming and laughter, both laid back to rest on the sand, Kinno nearly breathless from Aricks harsh execution of the rules.

"No...fair..." she huffed, rolling on her side to face him. "The seeker...can't hide..."

Arick chuckled, pushing his violet red bangs out from his eyes, "Since when was that a rule?" he asked. "I thought i was being pretty smart..."

"I still think its cheating..." Kinno grumbled, getting to her feet and brushing the sand out of her clothes.

"We can decide on it later," Riku interuppted, glancing at his watch as he approached them. "Its time to go."

Arick rolled his eyes as Kinno groaned, wishing she didn't have to go to school today. She had felt sick for the past week, but she hadn't said a word to any of them, and staying home from school would definitly get them asking questions, and she didn't want them to worry over her.

"Take Kinno home, will you?" Riku asked Arick before he dashed off into the small island forest to go and find Sora while Arick led Kinno to her boat, something he had started to do every day since he learned how to swim. She smiled, blushing a little as held out his hand to help her inside. he jumped onto the dock to untie her rope from the pier before he took the end into his hand and dived head first into the freezing water, pulling Kinno's boat with him as he swam the small channel between the islands and the mainland where they all lived.

Kinno often enjoyed these little rides. She'd just curl up in her boat, watching Arick beneath the water, swimming with the fish that lived in the reef. It was the times like this, when she was so close to him, alone, she felt her heart warm up and beat faster, making her cheeks flush as thoughts of love crept into her mind. She was always too afraid to voice her feelings to him, but that didn't stop her from thinking about it every day.

They reached the opposite shorline, and Kinno jumped out to help beach her boat on the pebbles that covered the shores. "Whose taking us today?" she asked as the bottom of the boat crunched agaisnt the small rocks.

"Sora's mom," Arick replied, shivering from being soaked from head to toe. "I'll see you their," he told her, waving as he ran off to the inevitable scolding he always recieved from his adoptive mother for being drenched before school started. Kinno took off towards an old house that was built on the edges of the cliffs. it had been condemmed after the original owner died, but only Sora and Arick knew that Kinno and Riku had refurbished the entire interior to make it livable.

Kinnos room was on the top floor with a wide circle window that gave the perfect view of the islands, which was the very reason why she chose this room as her own. she didn't have much to decorate it with, only a single queen sized bed with shear whispy curtains that draped on the sides. she grabbed her backpack, and hurried outside down to Sora's.

School was what it was for all young children. Long. Boring. All three managed to keep a passing grade, but again all three of them often day dreamed of being back at Destiny Islands, exploring, sparring, playing their favorite games. Kinno was doing just that as she stared out the window of her math class, soaking up the warm rays of the sun on her face.

A flick of something landing on her desk brought her attention back to the class room, and she looked down to see a diamond folded note waiting for her. She looked three seats over at Arick, who smiled back at her before she opened the note curiously.

_Bored much?_

She chuckled slightly, writing her reply below it.

_Extremely_

She folded it back up to its diamond shape, keeping her eye on the teacher to make sure his back was turned before she flug the note back skillfully to Arick's desk, a talent both of them had developed during the years in elementary school. She watched him open it, and suddenly her body felt like she was inside a boiling kettle, making her dizzy before collapsed to her side, breathing heavily as she watched Arick fall from his desk before she blacked out.

Both woke up in the nurses office, laying on their backs in the uncomfortable cots the school was supplied with. on a night stand beside each of their beds was a bucket full of wash cloths soaking in ice water, one of which Kinno felt on her forhead. The sick feeling she had been hiding was now ten times worse, and her fever didn't feel any better from the cloth.

Arick laid in a cot next to hers, still unconcious and mumbling incoherent nonsense. A feeeling of guilt struck her heart, as she felt that maybe she passed it to him unknowingly. But another thought crossed her mind. If Arick was sick before like herself, he would've said something (being one to always use any excuse he could to skip school), and as far as she knew, an illness like this would've built up, not struck right away.

As she pondered this, the school nurse opened the door slowly, allowing Sora and Riku to rush in freverently, both worried and concerned for their friends.

"What happened?" Riku asked, seeing Kinno was already awake.

"I just...passed out during class..." she answered with a yawn, still gazing at Arick. "He did too..."

Riku furrowed his brows at her, tilting his head a bit. "have you been sick and not telling us? Again?"

Kinno only nodded, coughing into her sleeve before the nurse came over to her, taking her temperature and doing other check up while Riku frowned at her in annoyance.

"I'm sorry..." She said sadly, "i didn't want you to worry..."

Riku rolled his eyes at her with a sigh, knowing he could never stay mad at her. "You still should've said something..."

"She needs to go home. Lots of rest and water," The nurse says, "Same with him. You should also see a doctor."

"We'll do just that," Riku says, gathering up Kinno onto his back so he could carry her home. "Aricks moms on her way over, so just go with him when she gets here," he told Sora before heading out of the nurses office.

Days passed and neither of them got any better. The doctors they saw were absolutley stumped on what exactly was ailing them, and could only supply medicine that would dim their symptoms, but not cure them.

Slowly and surely both of them became steadily worse, and one day as they both laid in Kinno's bed, talking endlessly about going outside again, the peak of their illness nearly killed them.

It happened after Riku came up with two bowls of chicken noodle soup on trays, and found both of them passed out and slumped over the floor, a pile of vomit and blood next to thier heads, neither of them breathing.

He dropped the tray, dashing over to kinno and shouting her name, shaking her vigorously and trying to wake her up. Her eyes snapped open, and it was obvious she was in pain, but her mouth gasped for breath instead of screamed, and her body started to convulse as it started to fight to stay alive.

Arick seemed to be doing the exact same, though he remained unconcious.Their was no one else in the house for him to go to, and the hospital was too far away. Riku was too panicked to know what to do, and could only hug his sister tightly, crying harshly and hoping she would survive. But the hope died when she went limp in his arms, and her attempts to breath ceased.

"No..." Riku moaned, staring into the lifeless face of his twin. "you can't..not now...i..i.."

FLASH!!!!

The center of her chest lit up with a brilliant white light, illuminating the entire room as she started floating upwards. the necklace she had since she was four was glowing as well, and Riku realized Arick had the same glow from his heart as well. he watched, stunned and surprised as the two floated in the middle of the room, side by side before descending back onto the bed, and the glow died, leaving the two sound asleep beside eachother as if the past thirty seconds hadn't occured whatsoever.

That one event was the first hint that Kinno and Arick's heart were magically linked somehow. The freinds kept this tiny fact to themselves, not entirely sure what it meant or why the link was their. And to this day, it was the one thing that kept Kinno alive.


	3. The Voice

That night, Kinno was unable to sleep, her eyes wide open as she laid her head against her star plush pillow. The memories she had of Arick and the words of the young boy stabbed at her concience merclessly, bringing on pains of guilt which lead her to sink further into a depression that had been slowly building inside her for the past several weeks.

She slowly sat up, curling her knees to her chest as she looked down, eyes dull and unfocused as her thoughts travled back to the words of the young boy who wished for Aricks death. In truth, she didn't want him to die at all. No matter how evil he had become, no matter how much Arick had embraced the darkness, he was still thier freind. And yet at the same time, she felt it was meant to be. It was something compeltely unavoidable, and even if they didn't mention it, the others knew the same thing, that though his demise would take her life as well, Arick's destiny was an early death.

"i can end this now..." she realized, looking sadly over at Riku and Sora who were both sound asleep in thier own sleeping bags, dreaming away in the only bliss they had. Carbuncle, the green cat-rabbit like summon was outside keeping watch in case their was another heartless attack, and if was going to do this, she would have to sneak past him. But thats easy, she thought to herself, going through the magic in her mind to isolate herself from his keen senses as she stepped outside and headed through the trees away from the clearing.

As she wandered away quietly into the deep forest, only one person noticed her leave, and decided to follow her, knowing that Kinno's midnight wandering could not be a good sign.

Lost in thought of guilt and depression, Kinno ambled deeper and deeper into the forest, bursting into tears every now and then, her emotions taking over her logic and blinding her to the one who followed her. Kinno's legs seemed to drive themselves, guiding her feet through torrents of brambles and hidden traps beneath the leaves. Twice she cursed herself when a root would sneak out and stub her toe, but other then that, her blind wanderings left her unharmed.

After what seemed to be hours, Kinno finally stopped herself, staring at the edge of the forest where nothing but empty space was ahead of her. Blinking a few times, she realized she was at the edge of a tall cliff overlooking the ongoing landscape, the stars and moon shining brightly in the sky, providing the small source of light that reflected across the dancing blades of grass in the distant meadow below.

Her eyes burned with tears as she gazed at the full moon, the light glistening off of her face. She shivered to the slight breeze, hugging herself as she looked to the bottom of the cliff where a circle of spikey rocks seemed to await her. Was this a sign? Was this cliff telling her to take her life?

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME??" she suddenly screamed, thrusting out her arms in frustration, crying to the sky in her sadness.

"Your fate..." a simple answer came to her in her mind, not in solid words, but almost as if it were only feelings that were talking to her. But she knew the voice. It had spoken to her so long ago, back when she was only a child. It had been years since she heard it, but its tone and essence were still familiar.

"is this it?" she cried, exasperated and confused. "throw myself away so the world can be at peace with out him?"

"No child..not at all..." the voice replied gently. "Your time will come when you will know what to do...but this...this isn't the way."

"What is then?" she screamed, her emotions shifting from sadness to anger. "What great destiny do you have for me? What epic way is their for me to die, huh? Am i just a toy to you!? I don't want to be some damn martyr!!"

She broke into sobs, falling to her knees and dangerously close to the cliffs edge. Her hands covered her face as she tried to hide her shame, her body trembling.

"You'll understand..." The voice whispered, fading away when a hand genlty clutched Kinno's shoulder in comfort, making her glance up with her eyes flooded to see the face of her freind Aurora, worried and concerned

"Aurora.." she sniffled before suddenly burying her face into her best freinds stomach, letting out all the pain and frustration she felt in a water fall of crying.

"Ssshhhh..." Aurora said after a while, stroking her hair calmly until Kinno's weeping dwindled into small sniffles. She tilted her head up, eyes blood shot with lines of dried tears beneath them. Aurora smiled a little, taking a seat with her arms resting on Kinno's shoulders. "Now. talk to me."

Kinno poured her heart out to her, telling her everything from the guilt she felt to the words the mysterious voice had told her. Aurora listened intently, patting her back gently when it seemed Kinno would burst out into tears again.

After she let out all the weight off her heart, and Aurora had finaly convinced her that Arick's actions was not her fault at all, the morning sun was starting to peak over the horizon. Kinno blinked a few times, warm rays gracing her face as she fekt surprised that it was already dawn.

"We should go back before our brothers begin to worry..." Aurora suggested, getting to her feet and helping Kinno to hers. Kinno nodded, wiping away the caked tears from her face before they wandered back through the forest.

"Your time will come young one, and the events are in motion," the voice came back to her abrubtly, almost making her jump. "Seek out the seventh princess, she will tell you what to do."

Kinno nodded a little, though unsure if the voice would see it as they continued on to the camp.

When they arrived, everyone was thankfully still asleep, lifting some of the anxiety off of Kinno, and the only person to notice thier return was Carbuncle. The summon whistled and scurried down from his tree when he saw their return, running towards them and jumping into Kinno's arms likcing her face, tiliting its head in question.

"don't worry bout it," she replied simply, shaking her head. Carbuncle whined and pawed at her chest in disappointment, but none the less, disappeared in a burst of green back inside her necklace.

"Come on, lets get breakfast started so they don't suspect anything," Aurora suggested, looking around for the food bag, hopeing they had some kind of eggs she could make. Kinno nodded and skimmed the border of the camp to look for fire wood.

Soon enough, everyone started waking and after breakfast was served and everyone was content to eat in thier own small cliques, Kinno tugged her brother and Sora over to a small circle of thier own so they could talk without prying ears.

"i think we should seek out Kairi," She said instantly when Sora and Riku settled.

All three of them blinked at her in surprise, taken aback by her statement. "What are you insane?" Sora asked her, setting his plate down on the ground. "What good could that do us anyway? And Hollow bastion is CRAWLING with heartless, not to mention Malificent. Going thier is complete suicidal..."

Sora would have continued if not for the hard slap he recived from Aurora and the harsh glare she gave him to shut him up and allow Kinno to continue.

"I know its risky, but.. She's his sister...she might know a weakness to his magic," Kinno replied, taking a mouthful of egg. "And its been months since we've made any move against Arick. We can strike a blow. If he doesn't have all seven princess of heart, the portal will close and his army will start to shrink, and its also possible that closing the portal could weaken their magic."

"that still leaves getting into hollow bastion..." Riku said with a little protest, who somewhat agreed with Sora. "The heartless would surely spot us, and if they find us, their gonna call Malificent, and thats a fight i'd rather avoid at the moment."

"NOT true, young Riku," The high pitched squeak of Cindy Magus piped from Kinno's necklace just before Three small pixe like faries zoomed out from Kinno's necklace, zipping around thier heads with their wings buzzing before they found places to settle.

"We have been listening, yes," piped Mindy after her sister, going for Sora's shoulder and landing perfectly, twitching her wings a bit.

"We have a spell that may help," Squeaked the eldest Sister Sandy, who flew onto Kinnos head.

"Render you completely invisible it will," Cindy told them, sitting her fat squatty body on riku's knee.

"Thats not gonna help..." Riku said, shaking his head in disappointment. His hope had risen for a moment before it was just dashed away. "Heartless sense your heart, not your physical being..."

"Let us finish stubborn boy!" Sandy snapped at him from atop Kinno's head.

"It makes you invisible to the heartless...blinds them from all your emotions that they percieve," Mindy hissed,

"letting you pass by them as if you were never their." Cindy finished.

Riku blinked in surprise to their statement, tilting his head a little. "Why didn't you tell us you could do this before?" he asked.

"Because it was not needed," Sandy answered.

Kinno shook her head slightly with a sigh. "you make no sense sometimes, " she muttered.

"So i guess this means were going to Hollow Bastion then, " Sora sighed, rolling his eyes. He still didn't like the idea of going thier, risking the fact that Arick himself might be their as well.

"No. it means me, you and Kinno are going to Hollow Bastion, "Riku corrected him, finishing his plate up. "some one needs to stay here in case something happens."

"Uh! No fair!" Aurora whined.


	4. Arick the Tyrant

Arick appeared inside the chamber where he kept the seven princesses of Heart Imprisoned in frozen animation, each standing in a sealed glass prizm, their eyes closed tight as they slumbered peacefully, completely unaware of the thier incarceration. He strode slowly between them, their cells lining either side of the grand hallway, his eyes darting from one to the other until he came to the very last, turning to face her. She was the same age as him, with chin length hair drifted over her face, shimmering a violet red color, much like the roots that were starting to shine through his own hair, the blue dye starting to wear down. Unlike the others she didn't stand ridgidly straight, but slumbed over as if she had fainted inside. She had the same ocean blue eyes that he gazed upon her with, and he knew this, cause she happened to be his sister.

"What are you missing," he asked, putting his hand on the glassy surface as if expecting her to answer. Somehow, he felt no shame in taking her prisoner. Only curiousity as to why she she wouldn't lead him to Kingdom hearts. They were all here, just as the prophecies had said, and he had been able to open the dimensional gate to endworld, but other then that, Kingdom hearts was still hidden from his universal sight. She still had her uses in keeping the door open, yet she still lacked something that was perplexing Arick completly. He had done everything scrolls had told him to do, and nothing... No completion of the prophecies at all. Prophecy...He snorted in laughter. He probably had mistranslated the symbols, or his sources in interpreting the ancient language was faulty. No matter...the prophecies were unreliable to him, and now he had to work out on a wing.

"what troubles you young one?" the high cruel voice of Malificent asked as she appeared from shadows behind him, her staff in hand as always. Arick smiled slightly with his face still turned away from her, knowing she sounded as if she truly cared but all she wished to do was derive information for her own desires. But as always he played along, controlling her in subltle ways that she was compeltely unaware of.

"Its those damn kids," he he said, his voice warping for a moment and his eyes flashing an eerie moon yellow before sliding back to the dark blue color that was his own. He took his hand off and turned to her, regaining that child like quality to his voice. "My old freinds hold hope with the others, still defying my absolution."

The old witch chuckled, watching him climb the stairs towards a giant portal that swirled red, purple and green. "They are a courageous little bunch, but courage can only go so far," she said, following him up the stairs, stepping at his side when he stopped in front of the portal.

"And thier is still the puzzle of Kairi...and why she won't allow me to find Kingdom Hearts," he added, keeping his eyes on the portal, not even allowing a glance at the witch.

"Maybe her heart is the problem," Malificent suggested, "She IS the seventh. Her will is not so easily subdued as the others...you were warned this if i recall."

Arick nodded slightly, thinking on wheather or not to punish her for her tone, but he decided against it. She was a valuable source of magic, and if he kept abusing her, the more of a chance she would turn on him. "That could be it..." he said, scracthing his chin in thought. "Hm. Take her out of the prizm and send her to the dungeons. I'll have to talk to her myself. I'll meet you in the high tower," and with that he disappeared with a snap.

As soon as he was gone, Malificent's eyes narrowed and she spat at the floor. "Foolish boy..." she hissed, turning to do his bidding. She HATED taking orders from such a petulant little child, but fear of his unusual powers kept her from taking him out until the right moment, and until then she would stay in her chambers, planning her takeover and acting as the duitful servant.

Up in the high northern tower, the Council of villains Arick used as generals for his army stood arounda large stone table with a magical map of the known universe on its surface. Small spheres with different symbols represented the many worlds amongst the stars. Some had heartless insignia's above them, showing the planet had been conquered. Others had an X placed over them and its light dimmed, meaning the darkness of the heartless had utterly destroyed that world. And lastly their was a key above a few of them, showing the worlds which the keyblade masters had successfully sealed against the heartless.

Black obleisks were used to show the position of the hearltess army, and white obelisks to show where the enemy was to be amassing, fighting or training to rebel against his reign. And the last movable piece, a blue trianagram, was set to the side. He had used that to mark where Riku, Kinno and the others were going, but at the moment they had avoided detection.

As always, ARick could hear them yelling and bickering at eachother over stupid arguements such as strategy and achievments and what not, all competing to try and be better then the other. Deciding to eavesdrop a little, Arick stopped himself from turning the knob, and leaned his ear against the door.

"He's a fourteen year old little bastard, he knows nothing of politics, or of war, he lets the heartless run rampant at will, do i need much more?" He heard the rather annoying voice of Oogie boogie. "If we pool our dice together, the boy is as good as gone!"

"Your brain is as small as a slug, oogie," The sea witch Ursula hissed at the potatoe sack monster. "all of us has seen what that boy could do to us.."

"its a surprise he hasn't thrown all of us to the heartless already!" Captain Hook added with his whiney voice.

"You cowards! You wussies!" Oogie taunted. "Your villains! your supposed to instill fear! Not be scared yourselves!"

Arick grinned, deciding this would be the most excellent oppurtunity to demonstrate his power and intimidate his subordinates. Turning the knob he stepped inside, and recieved the very reaction he expected as a smirk crossed his lips. Everyone went absolutley silent as they all turned to face him, Oogie freezing completely where he stood, a look of horror and fear in the holes he had for eyes.

Arick decided not to play around. "So... You think you can do better then me oogie?" he asked slowly, putting his hands behind his back and began pacing around the room in the opposite direciton of Oogie Boogie.

"Thats...no...no si..sir..not at all.." he stuttered, his voice shaking nervously.

"Well Good," Arick said, making it sound as if his anger subsided. "cuz i know you well, Oogie..." he said, stepping closer to the unruly general. "Your a constant gambler...And in war...Gambling is not an option..."

SLASH! Just as Arick came close enough, he decapitated Oogie with a quick slice of his spikey wrist blades, and all the bugs, worms and other pests that started to spill out rapidly suddenly ignited in flames, thier high hiss screaming echoing off the room until they were nothing but embering ash.

The other generals had watched in horror as their comrade fell at the hands of their own commander, and all were shaking nervously, wondering who would be next.

"So...Any one else think they can do better then me?" he asked casually as if the last five minutes never happened.

All of them shook their heads vigorously.

"Then lets begin this meeting..." he said, drawing up a chair and sitting down at the table, overlooking the map.

"The King is being awfully persistent," Malificent said from behind as she appeared in the chamber, taking her place at his side. "He has moved aggressivly towards Agrabah, and is currently recruiting new members."

"Any word on where the three have escaped to?" he asked, and recived another headshake.

"Hmm... We need to find them immediatley," he said, placing his finger on the jungle planet. "Check the area around here... We HAVE To keep them seperated from the King at all costs...i know they are who he's looking for, and if they join forces,they will create more problems then i'm willing to allow," he said.

"well how can we stop someone we can't find?" Hades asked, shrugging his shoulders. "i mean come on, were doing our best here buddy, we can stop the king here and their, but those kids, their hard to track, their so small, but their is..."

"shut up Hades," Arick growled.

"let him finish Arick, theirs someone here he wants you to meet," Malificent calmed him. Arick rolled his eyes and huffed. "Fine...who is this, and why is he important to me?"

"You know the twins?" Hades asked with a fangy smile. "I found their father."

Out of the shadows, a man in a black trench coat emerged. He had long Silver hair that matched Riku's and Kinnos, with an incredibly long sword sheathed at his side. He was tall, and his Green eyes sparkled in the dim light. But inside him, Arick could sense an evil none of his other generals had, a cunning and intelligence no villain he had ever encountered possessed.

"My my... I've heard of you," Arick said slyly, giving another smirk. "Sephiroth, is it not?"

The man nodded and bowed slightly, "I see i need no introduction, as your reputation precedes yourself, Arick," the man replied in a deep wise voice.

Arick smiled, already liking the man. "Will you be willing to provide your services to me?" he asked.

"Under one condition," Sephiroth replied. "The children are mine,"

"Done." Arick answered


End file.
